I am so excited and happy to finally be here and begin the mission God has given us in Ithan and Radnor. I know we will be in this odd place of getting to know each other online, on the phone and in a limited way, in person for a bit. Please know that I am beginning the pastoral care of both of our communities this week, and that you may hear from me by phone or email soon. If you have a need you'd like me to know about, or you'd just like to chat, please feel free to call or text me at 610-596-1589. Keep an eye on these newsletters and your web sites for more ways we can get together in the coming weeks, online and in person (following all the safety protocols).

 

I'm so grateful to all the people who have made my first few days wonderful, especially the staff of both churches and the wardens. Thank you for your patience and kindness as I learn more about you and how God is working here.

 

God bless you.

Pastor Veronika

2:00pm Bible Discussion-Zoom

8:00am* Holy Eucharist—YOUTUBE

LABOR DAY - office is closed

12:00pm Noonday Prayer-ZOOM

2:00pm Bible Study-ZOOM

**Registration is necessary. To sign-up, please email Nancy McLaughlin at GuardianAngel720@hotmail.com or call CCI's main office at 610-688-1110 by noon on Fridays.

Today, September 3rd, is the final day of the summer Bible discussions. We continue to focus on the ways prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures share hope both for those in their times, and for those of us today. One of the treasures from this summer's Bible approach has been the insertion of "Art in the Christian Tradition" from the Vanderbilt's Divinity Library. You are encouraged to go to the website to explore art related to each week's Bible readings - visit http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-processquery.pl. Sometimes God's word is illuminated through various arts and icons, in ways that magnify the meaning for us.

Please join members of Christ Church and St. Martin's for this Zoom discussion at 2:00 PM today, Thursday, September 3rd. Please contact Deb Parker if you have any questions or have ideas for future Bible discussions.

Here are the Zoom details:

or Call: 646-558-8656

Meeting ID: 938 4282 6315

There will be a Blessing of Backpacks (and other school and work bags) on Sunday, September 6th. Students of all ages, teachers, office-employees, and other tote-carrying workers are encouraged to tune into the first video service with our new Rector, Pastor Veronika Travis. Have your school bags, briefcases, laptop cases, diaper bags, tablets, laptops or any other school related devices ready for a remote blessing. After the blessing Ms. Deb will follow up and deliver blessed items to school aged-children. This is a great evangelizing opportunity, so please share with friends and neighbors the YouTube premiere link that will be emailed on Saturday!

Sunday, September 13th will be a momentous day in the life of St. Martin's Church! At 10:00 AM, we will resume in-person worship with a Welcome Back service that will also be a "Welcome To" event for Pastor Veronika. The COVID-19 safety protocols will be in effect so space will be limited.

In addition, a Meet & Greet reception is being planned for after the service. Registration is helpful for the church service and the reception (food and drink provided following COVID-19 protocols). To sign-up, please email Admin@StMartinsRadnor.org or call the main office at 610-688-4830 by 5:00 PM on Monday, September 7th.

St. Martin's Sunday School will be focusing on the Beatitudes this fall—so be ready for counting our blessings! As each Sunday unfolds, our church school group will be able to picture the kingdom of God as a reflection of the way the world works when we create communities of love and justice. The children will then be offered an opportunity after each week's discussion to construct a Midrash scene of something from scripture. They can create with Lego style building blocks. With our digital world, other ways to depict scenes will also be encouraged so children and teens can use Minecraft, other building materials like clay, computer graphics, or even paper and colored pencils to capture their interpretations. Look for more details in next week's newsletter.

Note: There is no Summer Sundays or Sunday School on September 6th. All families are encouraged to watch the video recording online for Pastor Veronika Travis' first Sunday as St. Martin's and Christ Church's new Rector. Download the bulletin, and print the coloring page for your children!

Some new videos have been added our YouTube channel. Here are this week's additions include:

Seeing Youth Succeed: Find out how this program for teens enables them to discern and build confidence in their futures with an empowering curriculum and a cohort of peers.

For more information or to register for these FREE events, please visit https://ecsphilly.org/news-events/events/behind-the-scenes-at-episcopal-community-services/

From social distancing, sanitizing, hand-washing, and staying-at-home, new "norms" are in full effect. Here is a St. Martin's summary:

Sunday's Readings can be found on the Worship page at St. Martin's website.

REFLECT: In a pseudocommunity, as defined by psychiatrist Scott Peck, everyone pretends that they are already a community and that they really know each other, even though they really know very little about each other. In pseudocommunity, people assure themselves they have only superficial differences and no reason for deep conflict. Matthew 18 is Jesus’ assault on pseudocommunity. Jesus calls us to be more than a pseudocommunity. He calls us to be a forgiven and forgiving people so saturated in grace that we can risk being honest with each other.

What a divided world needs is not a church free of conflict and sin but a church that models how sin and conflict can be transformed into peace.

Adapted from: https://faithandleadership.com/jeremy-troxler-tie-binds

Matthew 18:15-20 addresses difficult circumstances that confront the life of a community. Missing the mark leads to difficult circumstances in the life of a community. Misunderstand. Miscommunicate. Miss you! This scripture passage encourages that we ask the question, "What have I missed?"

There are five R's to address [sin] in a community of grace. They are Repentance, Resolution, Redemption, Reconciliation and Restoration. These five R's are a spiritual path to build a community of grace. These can easily be adapted to using five fingers for finding forgiveness - 1) Say it, 2) say you're sorry, 3) stop it, 4) sort it out, and 5) start over.

Everyone of us has missed something. The teaching of Matthew 18 is to examine our conscience in order to build community of grace.

Adapted from: https://day1.org/weekly-broadcast/5d9b820ef71918cdf2002e96/to_build_a_community_of_grace

PRAY: God, we don't always like everybody. We don't always get along. Be with us when we argue and help us to remember to love. Thank you for your promise to be with us all of the time. Amen